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Five years ago, it took not one, but two consecutive tears of the same ACL to teach U.S. women's soccer midfielder Megan Rapinoe a valuable lesson: Slow down.

The first injury, suffered in 2006 as a collegian at the University of Portland, threatened her new place on the national team. The second one, suffered in 2007, all but ended it, and ruled her out for the Beijing Games.

"I may have rushed back a little bit faster than I should have after the first ACL," says Rapinoe, 27. "Not to say that was the reason that it happened again, but the second one humbled me a bit in a lot of ways.

"I took my time and really allowed my body to heal and be as strong as possible."

Rare is the athlete who has a second chance at gold in the Olympics, an honor the U.S. team claimed without her four years ago. The U.S. women open the Olympic tournament against France on July 25 — two days before the opening ceremony.

Rapinoe has 52 caps (international appearances) and is using her celebrity to make a difference. Rapinoe announced publicly that she is gay last week and hopes her confidence inspires others.

People probably guessed that I was gay because I'm pretty transparent in the way that I live my life. I think it's pretty cool, the opportunity that I have, especially in sports, because there's really not that many out athletes. I think it's important to be out. It's important to stand up and be counted and be proud of who you are.

I'm happy if I can help anyone else in their struggle. I'd like to make a positive impact on people.

We're playing good soccer. Everyone's feeling very confident. I'm feeling good personally. I feel like I'm in really good form right now. Maybe the best that I've felt ever. I'm really excited heading into the Olympics and I think everybody else is as well.

My knee feels good. I really took my time with the second one. It took almost a year to come back. I let myself heal and it hasn't given me a problem since.

It's huge to be able to play after missing the Games last time. In a way I feel like I'm a part of what they did. I feel an obligation to carry that legacy on and hopefully win another gold medal. We're all as competitive as they come so no matter what we want gold."

I have tons of family coming to London. My mom, my dad, my twin sister, nephew, my aunt and uncle… there will be a big Rapinoe contingent at the Games. It will be amazing to have them there. They're just as much a part of it as me. I wouldn't be there without them. It means a lot to look up and see your family in the stands.

I've been with Nike since the beginning of 2009. I kind of knew while I was in college that I could make a living playing soccer, but I didn't dream anything to the level of what I'm doing now. I feel very fortunate to make a living through my sponsors. It's pretty cool. For a female athlete it's not always that way. Female athletes in the United States are pretty lucky.